In this class presentation we explore the lives of three very different women in the family of Sayyidna Abu Sufyan, may God be pleased with him, and the circumstances that led to the Qur'an being revealed about them. We embark on a journey from darkness into light through the study of these women. First we witness the depths of wretchedness in Arwah Umm Jameel, the sister of Abu Sufyan and the wife of Abu Lahab. We then traverse a path of emergence from violence and evil to the illumination...

In this class, we explore four of the women companions about whose situations verses of the Qur'an were revealed. These situations mostly involve marriage and inheritance rights, and show us the complete faith, trust and certainty that these women had in their knowledge that Allah SWT and HIs Rasool SAWS would judge for them with nothing but all-encompassing mercy and justice. As women seeking to be on the Straight Path, we take a few moments to reflect on ourselves and where we stand...

We begin this class with an overview of historical and contemporary representations of Sayyida Bilqis in pre- and non-Muslim traditions, observing some examples of the decline in the way she is portrayed, particularly over the past century. The second part of the class focuses on the Qur'anic verses of her story with Nabi Sulayman AS in surah al-Naml. We see the majesty and humbleness of Nabi Sulayman, the deep intelligence of Sayyida Bilqis and the sensitive dynamics between Prophet and...

What does the story of Sayyida Zulaykha and Nabi Yusuf alayhi salam in the Qur'an really tell us about women, passion and acting on it? In this episode we explore the events of the attempted seduction as described in the Qur'anic text, and examine three interpretive methods for understanding those events. We look at classical tafsir literature, poetry and modern feminist attempts at interpretation about women and passion and ask: Are these interpretations really misogynistic? Really? Do...

Alhamdulillah this class on the woman of the Hajj - Sayyida Haajar - coincided with the first day of the 10 days of the sacred month of Dhul Hijja - the month of the Hajj. We discuss how Sayyida Haajar became part of the family of Nabi Ibrahim (Alayhi salam), we look at some 17th century European artwork depicting her 'banishment' to the desert. We talk about the deep meanings of the details of her story and her foundational role in establishing one of the pillars of the greatest earthly and...

This class takes us on a journey from the creation of men and women (our forefathers Sayyidna Adam and Sayyida Hawwa on them be peace) and the establishment of the principles and practices of their relationship in the metaphysical, unseen world, to looking at the consequences of nonadherence to those principles and practices in the contemporary world today. We consider some definitions and an explanation of what 'Metaphysics' is, then we examine aspects of the Quranic verses about Sayyidna...

The story of Sayyida Asiya provides several opportunities to examine the lives of the many women in the story of Nabi Musa (AS), and we study the Qur'anic verses and hadith which address them all. This class also engages with surah al-Tahreem and the stories of the six women who are mentioned in it, and how it is a very important surah about the family and fealty to the Straight Path. We conclude by examining the three Prophetic diagrams that were mentioned in Episode 2 and how we have come...

Before exploring the explanations of the events and meanings of the life of Sayyida Maryam, the Mother of 'Isa may peace be upon them both, we look at the what storytelling is and its role in the Qur'an. We also examine some of the scholarly arguments about whether Sayyida Maryam was a prophet or not, and how we should approach understanding her story from within our contemporary, intellectual milieu.

Our brief study of the life of the leader of the women of the Ummah on earth and in the celestial realm focuses on how to connect with her rank and emulate her in our daily lives. But to do this, we need a sound way of understanding her life story. What framework of understanding do we apply to find what we need from the events in her life? What are some of the events in her life that we can directly relate to in our time? *The opening salawat translation is courtesy of muwasala.org

In this class, we explore and analyze three distinct yet interrelated topics: A Prophetic educational methodology which includes a specific hadith on the four best women in Paradise. Ancient Arabia: Contexts and Contradictions. We discuss particular concepts in the social, cultural and economic context in which Sayyida Khadijah peace be upon her was born and lived before the advent of Islam. This includes the two extremes of venerating the female on the angelic level and engaging in femicide...

Welcome to this new series of classes from MISK Women - the Muslim Institute for Sacred Knowledge! The podcast uploads here are the class recordings which are lightly edited and presented here without the Q and A session at the end. In this first class, we introduce the course and some of the main objectives of studying the lives and legacies of Women on the Straight Path, both past and present. We look at a definition and explanation of the Straight Path, the characteristics of those on it...